


Drugs & Candy

by TheFirstDayOfSpring



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-28 14:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12608780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFirstDayOfSpring/pseuds/TheFirstDayOfSpring
Summary: Tumblr prompts





	1. Tears

**Author's Note:**

> You can leave prompt requests in the comments, on [Twitter](twitter.com/samemeshaw) or [Tumblr](shawhi.tumblr.com) :)

You’ve seen Root cry before. You saw her cry the second time you ever saw her in person, after you shot her in the empty server farm. Her utter exasperation, her fragile form on the concrete floor, hunched over in defeat, it had been a victory for you in that moment. You didn’t feel anything as you yanked her to her feet and dragged her back to the car by her elbow.

That woman had been so different from the Root you got to know months later, that you almost forgot she was there, hidden behind layers of smirks and flirtations, covered up with dedication and purpose as she gave her everything for the machine. You didn’t know if the machine had turned her into a different person, or if she always had this force inside of her.

You caught another glimpse of the woman on the floor of the server farm when she joined you on the bench in the courthouse, waiting for your number to come out onto the hall.

But this time, it bugged you.

She wasn’t even crying, but she wasn’t smiling either, not even at you, and that worried you. You always made her smile, even when it was the last thing you wanted her to do. But the machine was a part of her, and that part of her was being silenced by your enemy. You knew you could still make her smile if you tried, but it took more of her than it did before.

Root cried as you dropped to the floor in the stock exchange. You only noticed after you’d lost count of the bullets that tore through your skin. You only heard her screams when you thought it was over, that it was the end.

Root thought so too.

You hadn’t had much time to think it through, but you knew your decision was going to break her heart. There hadn’t been another option, but you felt an unfamiliar pull at your chest when those screams registered in your brain. You couldn’t look at her, even if it was your last moment, your last chance to see her face.

You heard those screams replaying in your memory for months after that.

The thought of Root crying in your absense left a hollow feeling in your chest. You tried to blame her for caring too much. It was her own stupid fault that she let you hurt her. But still, you had hurt her. The least you could do was make it through and make it out, and get back to her, to see her smile again.

And you do, after almost giving up and almost giving in. But she waits for you, and you make it back to her.

And she smiles, and she only stops smiling to stare at you with wonder in her eyes. It isn’t until she’s taken you to a safehouse and into her arms under the covers that you see tears in her eyes. You don’t understand. You wipe her cheeks with your thumb and you wish you knew what she’s feeling.

Your expression must let on that you’re worried, or confused, or whatever you are, because she smiles again. She ensures you they’re happy tears and you swallow away the cold air in your chest. You kiss her, and she cries more, but it’s okay.

You can deal with these tears better than you can deal without her.

You’ve become a part of her, and you’ve been apart for far too long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Work title from the All Time Low song xx


	2. Recovery

Shaw has her bright moments. Moments when she has a good grip on reality, when she just wants to take action and take down the people and the overpowered computer that made her past year hell. She gets in over her head when she’s particularly angry, after something has triggered a memory, or when Root tells her about times she got hurt while Shaw was away, and Root has to talk sense into her before she lets it take over her and does something rash.

Other moments, Shaw sits quietly on the side while the rest of the team discusses tactics, touching the spot behind her left ear, her glassy eyes suspiciously gliding over each person in the room with her. She’s restless and confused when there’s nothing for her to do, when her and Root just kill time on the couch in the safehouse together. She can be staring at the tv for hours when it’s not even on, though Root notices her appreciative smile when she puts on Animal Planet for her. Even when they go to bed at night, Shaw lies awake for hours, looking from the ceiling to Root, trying to cling to something solid to keep her from slipping. Root sees her weighing the facts to the doubts in her mind and wonders if that’s enough for her, if she can figure it out on her own or if she needs help. 

Though it feels like Shaw’s mind is still a thousand miles away, physically she has never been closer to Root. There’s been a lot of casual touching since she came back. Sometimes it’s just a hand on Root’s arm, or their knees brushing when they sit next to each other, but more than once, Shaw has walked up to Root waiting to be hugged. 

It confused Root the first time. It wasn’t really clear what Shaw wanted from her until she was practically standing on Root’s toes. Putting her arms around her had been the only thing that made sense to do, and Shaw relaxed into her embrace. They had stood there in silence for a couple of minutes until Root broke it by asking Shaw if she was okay. Shaw had looked up at her with dopey eyes, nodded and kissed her. It was a short kiss, and Shaw had almost immediately returned to her job of cleaning her guns, but it left Root dazed for a couple of minutes.

Root’s first thought when she gets shot goes out to Shaw. The first bullet is just a graze on her side. The second lodges into her shoulder. She drops one of her guns to the floor from the impact and thinks that if she survives this shootout, Shaw will kick her ass for getting shot in the same damn shoulder again. 

But Shaw doesn’t kick her ass. She doesn’t even say anything while she digs the bullet out of Root’s flesh and stitches her skin back together. She just looks at her, with wide eyes and an expression that Root hasn’t seen on her before. Root tries to swallow away the guilt, but it stays in her chest with an uncomfortable sting.

For the first time since she got back, Shaw starts actively participating in the group again. She does it by telling Root to sit still and let her shoulder rest. She doesn’t say it, but Root knows Shaw needs her to stay alive and stay with her. She knows how big her part in Shaw’s recovery is. It makes her feel even more stupid that she thought it would be a good idea to catch a couple of bullets to wipe out a handful of Samaritan agents.

Somehow the tables turn after this. Root needs Shaw to wash her hair in the shower and she needs her help getting dressed, because Shaw insists she can’t lift her arm too high without ripping her stitches. The switch of roles seems to brighten Shaw up a little, or maybe it just gives her something to focus on when her reality is on the edge of slipping out from under her feet.

It’s gonna take a while before she’ll be the old Shaw again, but the longer Root spends time with her, the more she starts to see that light in her eyes again. Root has never been so patient.


	3. Race cars

Last time the machine arranged a getaway car, Shaw had complained for a week about how stupid and slow the 1996 BMW was, and how happy she was she got to torch the piece of garbage in a shadow zone once they were safe from the Russian mob. She said the machine surely skipped some steps during rebooting, and now she had forgotten who Shaw was and how she preferred her cars.

Root knew that wasn’t true, and that in fact the BMW was the only car in the vicinity to get them to safety in time, but she had a talk with the machine regardless. Shaw is cute when she’s grumpy, but she’s even cuter when she’s shamelessly drooling over a mat black sports car in the harbor parking lot.

“She got me a Lambo?” Shaw asks Root. Her grin is wide and her face reminds Root of a child in the candy aisle.

“Only the best for our girl,” Root says, happy to take some of the credit. The car is a complete surprise to her too, but it’s gonna be worth it when Shaw shows her gratitude tonight.

Shaw doesn’t even roll her eyes before she gets into the driver’s seat and bites her lip when she touches the leather of the steering wheel.

The mobsters have follow them to the parking lot the moment Shaw pulls out of it. Although the mob car didn’t look like much, it rolls with impressive speed, and it races Shaw through most of Brooklyn, attracting attention from the cops. Shaw almost hits a couple of pedestrians and a truck, but swerves just in time with a smug grin on her face. Root leans out of the window with her newest gun and shoots at the mob car behind them. She hits the front wheel just as Shaw pulls into the freeway. The car slips and crashes to a halt, dragging some other unfortunate cars along.

“We lost them,” Root says, indicating that Shaw can now safely drive to a shadow zone and the mission will be over.

But Shaw doesn’t leave the freeway, and instead makes a point of racing like a well-in-control maniac for the next seven and a half miles, until she accidentally drives out of the city limits.


End file.
